When we made it to the restaurant, we only had to wait for a few minutes before a table opened up. We sat down and looked over the menu before ordering when a Racoonkin waitress arrived.

  Scarlet ordered a pte of roasted tuna, Nara got a steak, Katherine got grilled salmon, and I decided on a noodle soup that had some kind of meat in it.

  While we were waiting for the food, I looked around the restaurant. The building resembled something more like a fast-food restaurant of Earth, but with the colors and fanciness of Olive Garden.

  Scarlet made a sudden sharp inhale and I turned to see what was wrong. There was a tall male dragonkin with glittering orange scales entering the building with a small entourage.

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "Hawthorn," Scarlet replied. "He's the son of one of my mom's cousins. His part of the family believes strongly in keeping the royal bloodline pure. His father tried to arrange a marriage with me, and he's convinced I'm in love with him and in denial."

  I frowned and Scarlet smiled. "Feel free to get rid of him however you like," She added. "I honestly don't care. You shouldn't kill him though."

  "I want to kick him in the balls," Katherine said, shocking all of us.

  "If he comes over and acts all high and mighty, I'll let you do whatever once I beat him down," I told her, grinning. I looked back over at him and saw that his gaze was locked onto Scarlet and he was walking our way.

  "Hello, lovely," He said to Scarlet, ignoring the rest of us. "Mind if I have a seat?"

  "Yes, very much so," I told him. "Please leave."

  "And who are you?" He asked haughtily, turning to me. "I'd advise you not to get between me and my love."

  "I've told you before and I'll tell you again: I am not your love," Scarlet growled. "I have never had any interest in a retionship with you and never will. Now please leave me and my girlfriends alone."

  "Really?" Hawthorn asked, turning back to her. "You've deluded yourself into thinking you like girls? That's ridiculous." He turned to the rest of us. "You three are also deluding yourselves. It's ridiculous that a woman could love another woman."

  "Oh, shut it," I said, standing up and gring at the pompous dragonkin. "I have had it with you and your attitude."

  "And who would you be, to so clearly disrespect a member of the Draconic Royal Family?" Hawthorn asked, smirking. He clearly expected the revetion of his title to shock me.

  Needless to say, it didn't.

  "Evelyn Orchard, granddaughter of Nitri Orchard," I replied. "It has not been a pleasure to meet you. Please leave us alone; we have no interest in you."

  "A harpy?" Hawthorn asked incredulously. "Hah! You think that just because you're a birdkin, you can pass as a royal? As if! I know a harpy when I see one."

  "Do you?" I shot back before transforming into my 'angel form'. My feathered arms turned into a regur set (except for the cws), and two feathery wings sprouted from my back, through two thin slits that were hidden in all my shirts.

  Hawthorn stepped back in astonishment. He knew just as well as I did that the form I had just shifted into was something only a true harpy could do.

  "Now step away from our table and kindly leave," I said, a hint of frost creeping into my voice.

  "Duel me," Hawthorn shot back. "Fight me for the right to Scarlet's hand." Something in his eyes told me that he was confident he could win.

  I raised an eyebrow at the dragonkin. I was about to very vehemently decline when Scarlet spoke through our Bond.

  Do it, She said. I'm confident you can beat him.

  If you're sure, I replied.

  I am, She assured me.

  Then, to Hawthorn, I said, "Fine. Two days from now, at noon, at the academy." Then with a flick of my wing, I summoned up a small gust of wind to push him away before sitting down at the table again.

  He growled at the very btant disrespect but didn't say anything as he walked away, his head held high.

  "Your angel form is so cool," Nara murmured, pressing herself into my side. I grinned as I wrapped a wing around her and she hummed contentedly.

  "It's not just cosmetic too," I said. "In this form, all harpies have a natural massive increase in magic strength but consume a lot more magic for each spell."

  "That's pretty cool," Scarlet said. "And it lets you fly while you hold stuff. Neat."

  I was about to agree when the waitress from before came back with our food. I chuckled softly as Nara salivated over her steak.

  The rest of our night was amazing.

  Smiles